Brief History, Church Building Project Then and Now
Brief History
MCCF (Manchester Chinese Christian Fellowship) started by the late Pastor Stephen Wang in 1966, where a small group of believers gathered for Bible studies in student’s flats and later met regularly on Sunday afternoon in the basement of the City Mission Centre at St. Ann’s Square. In 1967, they moved to a large room in Albert Hall, opposite the Free Trade Hall. Because of the growing number and the members’ spiritual hunger for outreach, there was a need for a meeting place of their own.
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Church Building Project Then
Building acquired at Moss Side to Whalley Range and the growth the various ministries
They prayed, and God compassionately provided a building in Moss Side in 1968, members of the former McDougal Mission, now part of the Union Hall, donated their old furnished building to the Fellowship. Due to a development order, the City Council compulsorily purchased and demolished the Moss Side premises in 1974. As compensation, the City Council provided us the new Whalley Range Centre which was completed in 1977. With the acquired of the building, the first Cantonese Sunday Service started in 1979. It was in 1984 MCCF becomes MCCC (Manchester Chinese Christian Church), no longer just a fellowship group but a church. God continue to expand MCCC ministries beside doing English and Cantonese Ministries, but also launched into the Mandarin Ministries – Mandarin Bible studies (1988), English corner (1990) and subsequently the Mandrin Sunday Service (1993).
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Second Building Acquired – Cable Street Building and the growth of the various ministries
With the City Centre Vision to outreach more Chinese which are mostly populated in Town Centre, MCCC bought the Cable St Building in May 2002. Pairing alongside with the City Centre Vision was the motto of “You don’t come to us, but we’ll come to you”. Thereafter, Mandarin Congregation moved into Cable Street (2003), second Cantonese Sunday Morning Service started (2009), and a new Mandarin Congregation (Altrincham) formed (2014). Meanwhile at Whalley Range, beside a regular English Sunday Morning Service and a Cantonese afternoon Service, a new English Congregation was formed in 2015. Having known the limitation on the upgrade capacity of Cable Street Building, the church started searching of a more suitable place to accommodate the growing need of the church. A suitable church building project was being identified. It was the new building development project just right across Cable Street Building. Fund has been raised for this project. Unfortunately, this church building project failed through after we have sold Cable Street Building in December 2016. The church was left with only Whalley Range which are not able to accommodate all the ministries that has been built up over the years. Thus, MCCC spread out by renting various location – Sale, Altrincham, Brunswick, Salvation Army for Sunday Services with only the two English Congregation stay put at Whalley Range. What seems to be a disappointing moment in human eyes, God has made it beautiful by dispersing MCCC to various locations for His glory, just like seeds being purposely scattering out to expand the geographical boundaries of God’s Presence in Manchester which strongly echoing our motto “You don’t come to us, but we’ll come to you”.
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Church Building Project Update
A New Chapter by God’s Grace
With God’s guidance, abundant grace, and faithful provision, Manchester Chinese Christian Church (MCCC) was truly blessed to acquire a new church building in Whitefield in 2025. This marks a significant milestone in the life of our church and a powerful testimony of God’s faithfulness through the generations.
After the completion of all legal and administrative processes in April 2025, MCCC joyfully celebrated its 59th anniversary in this historic listed church building — a moment of thanksgiving and remembrance of God’s enduring faithfulness.
Following the acquisition, Eternal Grace (Cantonese Congregation) moved into the Whitefield Church Centre promptly. Since then, Sunday services, fellowships, ministries, and various church events have been actively held in this new place of worship. The building is becoming a vibrant spiritual home where believers gather, grow, and serve together.
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Looking Ahead
As we move forward, we continue to seek God’s leading in aligning our church vision with the use of this new building, prayerfully discerning how this God-given place can faithfully serve His purpose and mission for MCCC, both now and for generations to come.
With thankful hearts, we trust that the same God who has faithfully guided MCCC over the past decades will continue to lead us into the future – for His glory.
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MCCC Church Vision
To be a “Mustard seed Kingdom of God Church”
Matthew 13:31-32 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
We envisioned to be: –
(1) A transformative church – Transformation
(2) A united but not a uniform Church – Unity
(3) A mission outreach and networking church – Mission
Church Building Project Vision
Three-fold Vision & direction
(in-line with MCCC Mustard Seed Kingdom of God vision)
- Transformation – God’s Dwelling Place (Sanctuary) – physical dwelling place of God where transformation take place. The exaltation of God – Transformed to be more like Him. 2 Samuel 7:1-2 David’s desire to build a house for God! After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
Ezekial 48:35 The City Shall be Called ‘The Lord id Here!’ “The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”
. - Unity – Temple of Praise where believers gather in one accord and love to worship Him. The edification of the Saints – being united in diversity demonstrate who God really is to the world. His love not just bind us together despite our difference but also build us up through our differences. 1 John 4:12 – People will see God when we love another! No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
. - Mission – If we are glorifying God and edifying the saints, we will naturally want to share the hope of salvation with others. We will also want to obey the Lord. Since Jesus has specifically told us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). There are definite advantages to having a physical building to worship and meet in but it can also be a Community Hub, a safe and neutral place for community to meet and encounter God, than just for Sunday services. Making the church building into a hub for community events can make us indispensable to the wider community for outreach work.
Some important elements to consider for Church Building Project: –
- Clear Vision Setting and Casting to the leadership, staffs’ team, and congregations
- Thorough Financial Planning & reasonable Risk Assessment
- Congregational & Leadership Involvement – Prayers, searching and fund raising
- The readiness on the upkeep and maintenance of the Church Building
FAQ on Church Building Project
- Should we spend so much for a physical building when we can rent?
In Ephesians, the bible describes how the body of Christ is like a building. We do know that in the New Testament Church is “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit”. Corinthians states that “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” So, if we are the temple then why build/buy a physical one? Indeed, the same question we may ask why buying a house when we can just rent it since family is not about the building but the people in the building? Indeed, we don’t need a physical temple to pray and worship in. God hears us anywhere, but if we can have a church building, then, why not? And we should take pride in it and let the physical building be a vibrant temple of praise.
. - Why can’t we use the building fund to hire more staffs for the urgent need of ministry?
Church Building fund is a specific restricted fund that can be used only for the specific purpose that fund is being called for, which is the church building project.
. - With the pressing needs from ministries, shouldn’t the church need to focus on hiring staffs rather than church building project?
In John 12:8, Jesus said, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Jesus is trying to establish 2 points – (1) The need will always be there; (2) The focus should be on God, lest the need. Staffing need is a constant battle for church as aptly described by Jesus to His Disciple in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (point 1: – the need will always be there) but Jesus ends his conversation with his disciple in verse 38 by asking them to ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (point 2: The focus should be on God to provide the need). So, to answer the question, the church should have her focus on God. So, if it is God’s vision and direction to have the church building project on then it should be on and being carried out regardless of our staffing condition in Church. As we follow God’s vision and direction (focus on God), we are expecting God to meet our need, both the staffing and the church building project.
. - With many offerings such as worship offering, mission offering, church building offering and sometimes call for emergency offering in church, what should be my giving priority?
The quick answer is not which offering is your priority, but rather how you should put God as your priority. When God is your priority then He will guide you to give accordingly with His Purpose in mind and cheerfully with His Providence available for you. Likewise, when the church has many offering collections in place it is not which offering is more important but rather according to God’s direction and vision given to the church, the offerings are being called for. Through the opportunity to give, we can taste and see God’s goodness, lean on Him as our provider and grow in our faith as we trust in Him to bless and provide.